Agadez, Niger. A truck packed with migrants leaves Agadez, a Saharan hub for West African migrants travelling to Libya, Algeria and Europe, for Tourayat. From Tourayat to Libya can take more than two days across the desert. In 2015 IOM Niger registered and assisted over 7,000 migrants in Agadez. Photo: IOM/Amanda Nero.

Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, South Sudan. An IDP gathers the remains of his home in Sector 1 of the Malakal PoC following ethnic fighting that broke out in the camp resulting in the deaths of 18 and a fire that destroyed hundreds of homes. Photo: Muse Mohammed / IOM 2016.

Amman, Jordan. A young Syrian girl holds her mother as she waits in line to board a bus at the assembly point for refugees destined for resettlement in Canada. Photo: Muse Mohammed / IOM.

Maiduguri, Nigeria. An IDP woman poses with her son in front of her makeshift shelter constructed from cardboard at the Farm Center IDP Camp. The camp, a former processing plant, is now home to thousands of people who have fled their homes from villages mainly in Borno State. Some of the IDPs live in emergency shelters provided by agencies including IOM. Others have built their own shelters using whatever materials are available. Photo: Muse Mohammed / IOM.

Somewhere over the Atlantic. A Syrian refugee travelling to start a new life in Canada shows pictures of his hometown of Hama on his mobile phone. Photo: Muse Mohammed / IOM.

Mogadishu – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, last week (06-07/12) held a technical workshop funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to facilitate the implementation of a new project to improve access to water and sanitation services in rural areas of Somalia.

Niamey – Following recent international discussions, the Government of Niger and IOM, the UN Migration Agency in Niger have begun the mass evacuation of the almost 4,000 migrants that have registered for voluntary return at the Embassy of Niger in Libya.

Conakry – A flight chartered by IOM, the UN Migration Agency in Libya, arrived yesterday (07/12) at the Conakry-Gbessia International airport, Guinea, with 167 Guinean migrants, including seven unaccompanied migrant children, and three women with four children. Among the returnees were three medical cases that were directly transported to the hospital for medical follow up.

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 165,409 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 6 December, with nearly 20,000 of those arriving to Spain via the Western Mediterranean route. While the total number of arrivals to Europe across the Mediterranean is about half compared with the same period last year, the number of arrivals using the Western Mediterranean route to Spain is nearly triple that of last year, while deaths on the Western route have increased more than 40 per cent compared with 2016.

Ghana - Amid the recent reports and videos showing the abuse of migrants including instances of slave-like treatment in Libya, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is preparing to receive an increased number of Ghanaian returnees as IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme from Lib

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 164,779 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 3 December, with just over 70 per cent arriving in Italy and the remainder divided between Greece, Cyprus and Spain. This compares with 351,076 arrivals across the region through the same period last year.

Cox’s Bazar – It is now over 100 days since an upsurge in violence in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine State forced some 625,792 Rohingya refugees to flee into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The conditions of the congested settlements, where the refugees are now living, are extremely dire.

Athens – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and partner Médecins du Monde (MdM) announced today (5 December) that together they have rapidly provided primary health care services to over 1,200 migrants and refugees on the Greek mainland. The services were provided via mobile medical units during a two-month period between September and October 2017.

Geneva – IOM Director General William Lacy Swing has committed IOM to fully support this week’s initiative of the African Union with the European Union and Libya’s Government of National Unity, with UN backing to alleviate the plight of thousands of migrants trapped in Libya.

It has been brought to the attention of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that letters bearing IOM’s logo have been sent to numerous recipients informing them that they won in an annual lotto draw. These letters are circulating in the form of e-mails and may direct to e-mail addresses from the following e-mail host:

“@representative.com”
“@representative.compresentative.com”

These letters do not originate from IOM and they are not in any way associated with IOM activities.

Such use of IOM’s name and logo is unauthorized and illegal. IOM takes this matter seriously and takes appropriate actions against such fraudulent practices.

IOM strongly advises the public to be cautious of these and other similar fradulent e-mails that falsely claim association with IOM. Any transfer of personal information or money to those issuing such fradulent e-mails can result in identity theft, financial loss and other damages. IOM shall not be held liable for any claims, pertaining to fraudulent schemes including but not limited to claims resulting from theft, loss or damage.

If you think you have received a suspicious e-mail, forward it to abuse@iom.int.